Just a few thoughts on this. Firstly a very interesting website is the
one on Preservation in the Library of Congress. See
http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/
and particularly
http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/care/record.html (which includes video
tapes as well as wax cylinders!)
Specifically re your video tapes, I remember that the advice I got on
preservation of "reel to reel" tape (remember it?) was that it should
be wound through once a year. This was supposed to avoid an
effect called "print-through". This is where the signal on one layer of
tape remagnetises the next layer and the next. You could here it
as an "echo" - although it may have been more to do with loud
(over modulated) recordings. So I don't know if this is good advice
for video tapes. Remember that the greatest problem is going to be
when the technology goes!
Strangely enough, the biggest preservation headache is in a most
unlikely quarter. I was very keen on laservision technology (those
twelve inch silver discs of films and some educational content -
including the Domesday Project from the BBC - DVD is now taking
over). I also had some CD Videos (CDV). These are the same size
as CDROMs. Many of these have been affected by a white spotting
that starts on the picture and eventually affects the sound as well.
It is a well-known (but little publicised) phenomena known as "laser
rot" where the layer between the clear plastic deteriorates. Some
discs have become unplayable in under 20 years - so who would
have thought that magnetic tape would be the best storage
medium? Now what about CDROMS - are they doomed to go the
same way. Are older ones being checked - or are we all satisfied
that CDROMS are as permanent as it is claimed. (I have been told
once that "laser rot" did not occur in CDROMS - I hope that it true!)
Eric Jukes
ILC
Barnet College
am currently engaged in reviewing the stock of our resources
centre and
would welcome your comments/advice on the following:
The official advice on the shelflife of magnetic tape suggests that it
starts to perish after a period of twenty-thirty years. I have looked
at
some of our videotapes which were recorded in the early 1980s and
cannot
detect any deterioration in their quality. Has anyone else
experienced
problems with older tapes?
We are considering deleting some of our older stock. Does
anyone know of
an archive or register of video/audio tapes which might like to be
notified?
Many thanks
Sarah Taylor
Assistant Librarian
Library and Information Service
am currently engaged in reviewing the stock of our resources
centre and
would welcome your comments/advice on the following:
The official advice on the shelflife of magnetic tape suggests that it
starts to perish after a period of twenty-thirty years. I have looked
at
some of our videotapes which were recorded in the early 1980s and
cannot
detect any deterioration in their quality. Has anyone else
experienced
problems with older tapes?
We are considering deleting some of our older stock. Does
anyone know of
an archive or register of video/audio tapes which might like to be
notified?
Many thanks
Sarah Taylor
Assistant Librarian
Library and Information Service
am currently engaged in reviewing the stock of our resources
centre and
would welcome your comments/advice on the following:
The official advice on the shelflife of magnetic tape suggests that it
starts to perish after a period of twenty-thirty years. I have looked
at
some of our videotapes which were recorded in the early 1980s and
cannot
detect any deterioration in their quality. Has anyone else
experienced
problems with older tapes?
We are considering deleting some of our older stock. Does
anyone know of
an archive or register of video/audio tapes which might like to be
notified?
Many thanks
Sarah Taylor
Assistant Librarian
Library and Information Service
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|